This invention relates to a utensil, such as a toothbrush, for use by a small child.
Stylized and ornamental designs for the handles of utensils and personal grooming aids have remained popular over the years. When these utensils and grooming aids, such as toothbrushes and combs, are intended for small children they often include a decorative or toy-like structure. This structure is desirable since it entertains the child and prompts it to develop favorable associations with the object. In this manner, the child becomes more familiar with the object and is more likely to use it on a regular basis.
In the past, utensils and toothbrushes have included small figurehead designs upon a small portion of the handle or brushhead. While these designs may have entertained the child, they also increased the child""s risk of injury. The utensils and their decorative ornamentation often included small shapes that could break off and be swallowed causing choking. The decorative shape, as a whole, may also attract a child to swallow the brush. Since the designs were somewhat small, the child could easily choke upon the brush. Finally, many of the designs, while small enough to become lodged in a child""s throat, were too large to fit through a conventional brush holder. Thus, the unsupported brushhead would be prone to contact an unsanitary countertop or similar flat surface, causing soiling of the utensil and/or brushhead.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a child""s utensil, such as a toothbrush, having a decorative shape that is sufficiently large to prevent swallowing of the utensil by a small child.
It is another object of this invention to provide a child""s utensil having a decorative handle that may be easily held by a small child.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a decorative handle or utensil having a decorative handle that includes an integral structure that supports the operative portion of the utensil away from a countertop.
A child""s utensil, such as a toothbrush, according to this invention provides a handle in the form of an animal figure having a body which is essentially to scale and is generally cylindrical in configuration so that it may be gripped by a small child. The figure carries either a forwardly extending or rearwardly extending limb that is aligned symmetrically relative to the animal""s longitudinal axis and is a limb of a type that is usually singular such as a tail, horn or trunk. The limb is shaped and sized similarly to the neck or handle of a conventional utensil, such as a toothbrush. At the end of this limb is positioned an operative utensil end such as a toothbrush head. The limb should be long enough to allow complete entry of the utensil into the child""s mouth but not so long as to allow the child to choke upon the operative end of the utensil. As such, the handle should be large enough in diameter to prevent further entry of the utensil into the child""s mouth.
The figure includes a set of legs or similar appendages that are sized and positioned so that when the figure is rested upon its legs on a substantially flat surface, the operative end of the utensil is suspended above the level of the flat surface preventing contact therewith. The utensil can be removable from the animal figure handle. According to another embodiment, the utensil can comprise a handle formed in the shape of a character or other shape. The handle can include a base on a limb feature or other location wherein the base includes an orifice and a channel remote from the orifice. A detachable shaft is provided. This shaft includes a plug member sized and arranged to be inserted fully into the orifice and a hook extending distally from the plug member sized and arranged to pass into the channel. The channel is typically smaller in opening size than the orifice and the hook is typically formed as a curved leaf spring with a protuberance or shoulder adjacent to a free end of the hook. Upon insertion into the channel, the leaf spring must be flexed so that the shoulder exerts a pressure on the channel. The channel is formed with an end wall or other abutment so that the shoulder is moved into engagement with the end wall or other abutment when the hook has passed a predetermined distance through the channel. This predetermined distance is, typically, a distance in which the plug member fully seats in the orifice. The plug member can be provided with a linear side guides that engage corresponding channels in the orifice. The hook and other portions of the shaft can be constructed from a flexible polymer or another similar material having elastic qualities.